Bikram

I like the heat. I ran cross-country at the University of Tampa. I went to Bonaroo and complained little (if you've been you understand this great feat). I rode horses through the summer months for many years. I left New England to fly south for college (I think that winter had a personal vendetta to freeze me out). I don't even mind going off for a nice jaunty jog at noon in August.  A little perspiration?  Whatever.   All these things made think that bikram and I would fall madly in love with each other.   But instead, I found myself in corpse (feeling like a corpse) 15 minutes into my first class.

I took my first class before I got really into yoga and thought I would just give it a try, no big deal! Big deal.  Between my low blood pressure (thanks years of distance running!), my ability to burst into a full sweat on command (thanks super efficient body!), and my inability to sip water slowly (I usually guzzle it down and then deal with my sesame seed sized bladder ) I just really wasn't ready for what bikram was dishing out.  

I really needed to learn how to properly lift my head before my heart when standing up , breathe into my body heat so I properly warm up from the inside out (I didn't fully appreciate why we all sounded like dark vadar at the beginning of class), and I certainly didn't hydrate properly. (Luckily, with three of my very athletic rugby teammates beside me I new that I could get carried out of the studio should I die)

No one died. In fact, after I corpsed it up for a few long minutes, surrendered to the class environment and expectations, torture slowly turned to appreciation.  I slowly rolled over, rose, and positioned myself in one of my best Warrior I. Ever. With tight runner hips and bad knees I would normally rather hold a crescent lunge for 3 hours than warrior I for 3 minutes.  But that day, my leg was properly rotated from the hip, my feet firmly planted and everything just felt good.

This experience happened only a year after I stopped running competitively and my brain was still trying to figure out what other athletic mind sets existed. Though intense, yoga should never be forced and it took getting my butt kicked to understand that. It was this experience that launched me into my yoga practice and eventually to become an instructor.

Let me know what kind of yoga has whipped you into mental and physical shape! What clicked? Shoot me an email at darlingdrishti@gmail.com or post your answer on facebook or twitter!

The light in me honors the light in you! Namaste.

Dianna